Nonpolar resistive memory switching with all four possible resistive switching modes in amorphous LaHoO{sub 3} thin films

Journal Article · Mon Sep 07 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4930039· OSTI ID:22494836

Sharma, Yogesh; Pavunny, Shojan P.; Fachini, Esteban ^[1]; Scott, James F. ^[2]

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1. General Studies College, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931 (United States)
2. Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB0 3HE (United Kingdom)

We studied the resistive memory switching in pulsed laser deposited amorphous LaHoO{sub 3} (a-LHO) thin films for non-volatile resistive random access memory applications. Nonpolar resistive switching (RS) was achieved in Pt/a-LHO/Pt memory cells with all four possible RS modes (i.e., positive unipolar, positive bipolar, negative unipolar, and negative bipolar) having high R{sub ON}/R{sub OFF} ratios (in the range of ∼10{sup 4}–10{sup 5}) and non-overlapping switching voltages (set voltage, V{sub ON} ∼ ±3.6–4.2 V and reset voltage, V{sub OFF} ∼ ±1.3–1.6 V) with a small variation of about ±5–8%. Temperature dependent current-voltage (I–V) characteristics indicated the metallic conduction in low resistance states (LRS). We believe that the formation (set) and rupture (reset) of mixed conducting filaments formed out of oxygen vacancies and metallic Ho atoms could be responsible for the change in the resistance states of the memory cell. Detailed analysis of I–V characteristics further corroborated the formation of conductive nanofilaments based on metal-like (Ohmic) conduction in LRS. Simmons-Schottky emission was found to be the dominant charge transport mechanism in the high resistance state.

• OSTI ID: 22494836
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 118; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AMORPHOUS STATE
CHARGE TRANSPORT
DEPOSITION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
HOLMIUM
HOLMIUM OXIDES
LANTHANUM COMPOUNDS
LASER RADIATION
NANOSTRUCTURES
OXYGEN
PULSED IRRADIATION
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIN FILMS
VACANCIES